The University of Arizona

Kristen Dillon

Title: 
Graduate Student
Area of Expertise: 
Avian ecology and conservation, wildlife management, habitat ecology, life history evolution, political ecology
Advisor(s): 
Courtney Conway
Academic Degree(s)
BA 2006, Prescott College, Prescott, AZ
Contact Information
kgdillon@email.arizona.edu
School of Natural Resources and the Environment
104 Biosciences East
Tucson, AZ 85721

I am a master’s student in the Conway lab. Broadly, my research interests are in avian ecology, conservation, behavioral ecology, and life history evolution. My master’s research centers on explaining elevational variation in avian clutch size, with a specific focus on red-faced warblers breeding in the Santa Catalina Mountains. Red-faced warblers breed along a 1000-meter elevation gradient in the Catalinas, from 1700m to 2800m, spanning nearly the entire elevational breeding range of the species. Clutch size declines along this gradient, such that high elevation breeders lay a smaller clutch than low elevation breeders. A similar pattern has been reported in numerous other species. I am testing correlative and experimental predictions of three mechanistic hypotheses in an attempt to explain why clutch size is smaller at high elevation: due to elevational variation in (1) nest predation risk, (2) food abundance, and (3) female condition. I am also testing whether high and low elevation breeders employ different life history strategies. Understanding the causes of elevational variation in clutch size may provide insights into life history evolution in general, as well as help to better understand the potential effects of climate change if montane birds are pushed to higher elevation by warmer temperatures.

 
I received my undergraduate degree in Political Ecology from Prescott College, where my focus was on the interaction between social, political, and economic circumstances and successful conservation ecology. In the several years since, I have worked as an avian field biologist throughout Arizona, California, Nevada, and Washington. In so doing, I gained extensive experience in applied avian ecology and conservation while working on various conservation and restoration-oriented projects.